Anew
by SpiritOfPower
Summary: Because who wants a happy ending when a more joyous journey is just beginning? Previously titled "Unexpected". Series of silly/sweet oneshots. Tends to hint at KuroFai, but is sort of between friendship and pairing. SPOILERS! Post-epilogue.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Though I just finished reading the Tsubasa manga, I haven't read past Volume 4 of XXXHoLic, so that side of the story is a little vague to me; I don't know what happened to Maru and Moru or whatever their names are, or to Doumeki, etc, so I'm just making that part up lol. **

**Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own TRC or its characters, etc, etc. Just doing this for fun, not making money, etc, etc. **

After everything that had happened, relaxation felt strange, foreign. It seemed hard to believe, somehow, that, at least for the moment, they could let down their guards and enjoy the calm; the soothing calm after the storm, rather than the foreboding calm before it. Everything was…well…not back to normal, exactly, but at least back to some semblance of routine.

Sakura wasn't with them, and Syaoran was the original rather than the clone…though since the original was the son of the clone, perhaps "original" wasn't the right word. Kurogane didn't even truly bother trying to wrap his head around the entire thing. It was like wondering whether the chicken or the egg came first, except even more absurd. Still, Syaoran was much the same in some ways, calm and kind and for the most part mature, as long as he wasn't drinking.

Mokona was the same as he or she or _it_ had always been, bright and chirpy and annoying.

As for Kurogane, he didn't think he had changed much. Perhaps he had learned something about self-sacrifice; "true strength", as Tomoyo-hime called it. Perhaps he'd softened somewhat, though his gruff exterior was ever the same.

But in the end, since Sakura's absence and the loss of the clones was sorrowful, and Mokona and Kurogane were basically the same as ever, perhaps the most positive change to their little traveling group was Fai.

In appearance, it was as though Fai had gone back to the way he'd been at the very start, albeit with longer hair and mismatched eyes. He was always smiling, laughing, teaming up with Mokona to torment Kurogane with stupid nicknames and practical jokes. The difference…such an enormous difference…was that now, almost every smile, every joke, every laugh, was _real_. Now, instead of smiles pasted on beneath mourning eyes, his eyes laughed right along with him. It was amazing how much less annoying it was when it wasn't a lie. Still annoying, definitely…but it lacked the irritating quality of being fake.

Perhaps that was why now, a week into their new journey, the way Fai's smiles were becoming weaker and less common was so worrying. In Clow Country, Fai's pale, heat-sensitive skin had turned an amusing tomato red; and though he'd constantly whined about the sting of the sunburn, he'd also seemed fascinated by it, always pushing his finger-tips into his skin and studying the white marks which appeared and then faded with interest. Kurogane had realized with amusement that Fai had never had a sunburn before. After the burn had faded, Fai's skin had been a shade or two darker than it's usual near-white. Now, however, he seemed pale again through the tan. That and the decrease in smiles made the ninja quite concerned about his companion.

Mokona had taken them to the Dimensional Witch's shop first after leaving Clow Country. The witch's absence made the place feel strange and somehow empty, but in truth it was brimming with life…mostly of the obnoxious variety. With Fai, both Mokonas, those two creepy little girls, and that boy who kept flailing around and yelling all crammed into one building, it was amazing that Kurogane's head hadn't exploded yet. Even Syaoran, supposedly his companion in sanity, betrayed him the first night by getting stinking drunk with all the others and, much like his clone/father had so often done, ran around flailing a "sword"…or rather a broomstick. It was when Kurogane retreated to the kitchen to drink in some semblance of quiet that he met perhaps the only other sane person in this dimension; the tall boy with the droll, sarcastic voice and an ability to hold his liquor that was uncanny in one so young. Every night since then he and Doumeki generally found some dim corner where they could drink in peace and wince at the occasional crash or bang or insane cackle coming from the living room. According to Doumeki, Yuuko would have been delighted at having her home used for drunken parties every night. Though he hardly wished anyone dead, Kurogane found himself rather relieved that he hadn't known the witch better.

It was their seventh night there, and Kurogane had noticed that each day, Fai seemed to deteriorate just a little. He got a little paler, a little less jovial, a little slower in his movements. Was he ill? Perhaps he'd lost his ability to handle drinking so much? If that were the case, he must be piling hangover on top of hangover. Standing in the shower in the early morning while all the drunkards still slept, Kurogane resolved that today he would confront Fai and figure out what was wrong.

Because their new journey had no set goal, there was no reason not to spend a little time in each world, exploring. In this world of conveniences, Kurogane especially enjoyed the running water. His artificial arm was not damaged by water, but it did take a long time to dry, which could be annoying. Mokona had promised to take them to the Piffle world next so that he could get a skin put on it, and have it adjusted so that it no longer caused so much discomfort. Getting in the shower when he first woke up helped him shake off the last vestiges of sleep, and it was relaxing, which he generally needed after the insanity each night. Despite his enjoyment of the shower, however, he tried not to get too used to it; depending on amenities was not something a warrior should do, since they were not always readily available.

It was Saturday morning, and everyone had firmly declared that they were sleeping in today. How that was different from any other day here so far, Kurogane didn't know. He rarely saw anyone before noon, though Watanuki did occasionally get up midmorning. Kurogane never slept past seven, and he thought them all a bunch of lazy drunkards.

He made his way to the kitchen to find breakfast and was surprised to find Fai standing at the sink, looking out the window at the birds congregating on the feeder. He looked upset…the most upset Kurogane had seen him since Celes. Still not near as bad as he had been there…but worrying nonetheless.

"Morning, wizard."

He braced himself for a fake smile, still fearing a return to the old flow of things, and then was relieved when it didn't come.

"Morning Kuro-tan."

Now would be a perfect time to ask the mage about whether he was feeling poorly…and also why he looked so upset. Kurogane found a whole, uncut watermelon in the "fridge" thing, and pulled it out, then rummaged around in some drawers until he found a huge cutting knife. He stood at the counter next to the blonde and set about cutting the melon. At one point he glanced over and noticed Fai gripping the ledge of the sink so hard his knuckles were white, his eyes closed and creases showing between his thin brows. What was the matter with him, anyway?

The knife slipped on the slick rind of the melon and Kurogane cursed as it bit into his skin. It cut across three fingers, and blood welled up immediately from the three deep cuts. Cursing again, he reached for the handle to turn on the sink, just as he heard a quiet gasp at his side. Turning, he stared, shocked, not into a blue eye and a gold eye, but instead into two golden eyes, flecked with black, with slitted pupils like a cat's.

"What on earth?!"

Fai had his eye and his magic back. He wasn't supposed to be a vampire anymore! But those eyes and the hunger in them were definitely the traits of a vampire.

"Kurogane…" Fai's voice was husky and rough, like that of a man long deprived of water. His golden gaze was trained unwaveringly on Kurogane's bleeding fingers. "I'm so hungry…"

Regrouping his scattered wits, Kurogane suddenly understood. _This _must be why Fai's health seemed to be failing. It had been…how long? Fai hadn't fed from him since…since when? Since Infinity? If it had been that long, it was a miracle Fai was still able to stand, let alone act normally! But he wasn't supposed to be a vampire anymore! Deciding there would be plenty of time to question the situation later, Kurogane shoved his hand towards Fai's face.

"Feed."

There was none of the hesitation that had always been present in the past. Fai latched onto his hand without a moment of protest. Perhaps it was simply that he was so desperate, or perhaps it was the fact that the wound had already been present and his power would actually heal it faster, rather than a wound being made specifically for him to feed from.

As always, Kurogane closed his eyes and focused on not responding to the naturally erotic feeling of having lips and tongue on his skin. It was not a reaction specifically to Fai; though there had certainly been moments on their journey where he'd been forced to acknowledge he may feel something for the mage. This, however, was simple instinct. It did not particularly trouble him, perhaps because he'd been warned.

_Kamui took him aside while Fai was unconscious in the aftermath of the change, and smirked at Kurogane in that annoyingly superior manner of his._

"_I don't know what your relationship with that wizard is, though you must be close to have done this to save him; but even if it's absolutely nothing, even if you hated him, which you obviously don't; you need to brace yourself for the feeling that comes with feeding. You're going to want him."_

_There was mockery in the vampire's voice, but he was halted from continuing by his twin's decidedly more pleasant tone._

"_Feeding is extremely intimate, perhaps more so, in a sense, than even coupling. You actually share your life with someone. He would die without you, and you trust him with your own life by allowing him to drink from you and believing he will not drain you. That intimacy tends to lead to desire. Also, of course, having someone's mouth touch you, even if just on the arm or some other fairly neutral area, can be arousing. And most importantly, vampires have a power which causes desire in their prey; so as to make them feel pleasure rather than have them panic and flee."_

Kurogane's reminiscing was a decent distraction from Fai's feeding, despite the topic of the reminiscing. Finally, Fai rose up, his lips tainted red. His eyes were still golden.

"Those cuts are pretty deep, but fingers don't bleed all that much. Are you still hungry?"

"Yes. But that'll hold me over for now. I shouldn't take too much at once. I'll drink more later on. Besides, I guess we need to talk about this, huh, Kuro-rin?"

"Darn right." He examined the melon and was pleased to notice he hadn't gotten any blood on it. Bumping Fai out of the way with his shoulder, he washed off the knife and returned to cutting. "How long have you known you were still like this?"

"When I first got my eye back, I thought it was over. Then I remembered how bad it hurt when I changed, and I thought, shouldn't the change back hurt as well? Why wasn't there any pain, then? Then after Fei Wong was dead and we were staying in the castle, I tried eating normal food and I could, so I thought the lack of pain was just an anomaly. Then I started to get hungry…hungry for blood. I never needed to feed very often, but it's been quite a while. In Nihon when you were injured, I was really worried and wouldn't have thought of it, but Tomoyo-hime thought to collect some of your blood while they were working on you, and let me have it later." He wrinkled his nose like a child forced to eat broccoli. "It's really gross when it's cold." Kurogane blinked. Never before had Fai seemed so comfortable with the subject. Again he was aware of how much Fai had changed, and it pleased him. "So anyway, I hadn't fed that way since then, until now. Normal food seems to ease it a bit, but lately I've started feeling really weak."

Kurogane glared at him and waved the knife in the blonde's face as he ranted.

"And what were you going to do? Wait until you couldn't move anymore and then admit what you needed? Or just wait until you were dead and leave us all to try to figure out what happened? I thought you were past that!"

Fai smiled. His teeth were more pointed than usual, and his lips were still slightly smeared with blood.

"Easy, Kuro-puppy. It's only been a little over a week since I got my eye back. I was just waiting a little longer to see if maybe my body was slowly going back to normal. The fact that I can eat and drink normally again seems to show there was some change; I was only trying to see if the rest would follow. I was going to tell you today anyway though, before I got too weak."

Realizing there was no lie in the mage's voice or eyes, Kurogane relaxed.

"Alright. But do you know why you didn't change back?"

"The only theory I can think of is that it's because I gave up the magic in my right eye. As far as power goes, I may as well still have only one eye. I think the vampire blood stayed to compensate for that. I wouldn't die without it anymore, but I would be weakened significantly."

"But the witch said that if you got your eye back you would no longer be a vampire."

"Yes, but that was before I traded over the other eye's magic. Anyway, it's weakened; I can eat normally and it's at least partially satisfying, which means I'll need to feed even less often than before. I'm sorry, Kurogane…I never would have trapped you like this if I had a choice."

"Shut up, mage. _I_ had a choice, and I chose this before I even knew there was a possibility of it ever ending. So now we're just back to what I thought it would be when I originally agreed to it. As long as you behave and feed without complaint from now on, it's fine."

The hyperactive vampire smiled…how strange and pleasant, to see Fai able to smile about this subject, to be able to joke about cold blood tasting gross…then the blonde hugged the taller man tightly. Kurogane set up a steady growl low in his throat, considering poking the mage with the knife, just a little. Fai giggled annoyingly.

"Aaawww, Daddy's purring!"

Fai took off running as soon as the words were out, and Kurogane tossed the knife in the sink and gave chase. As they bounded out into the living room, he was surprised to notice those two creepy girls standing at the bottom of the stairs, each with a Mokona on one shoulder. Whatever happened to sleeping in? Ignoring them, he cornered Fai with his hands on the wall on either side of the blonde's head and considered what would be the best nearby object to brain him with.

"It must be love!" said the girl with the blue hair.

"Must be love!" echoed the one with pink hair.

"It's love!" squealed White Mokona.

"Love!" yelled Black Mokona.

Never mind the mage. The two meat-buns and the two doll-children were now definitely at the top of Kurogane's "To Kill" list.

Even as he chased after the four miscreants, he could hear Fai's sincere, happy laugh behind him, and it warmed his heart.

**AN: Not sure if my reason for keeping Fai a vampire makes any sense, but I LIKE him that way, so there! Lol. I may make this into a series of post-canon pointless oneshots in different worlds, or I may not. We'll see. Review please; constructive criticism is fine, no flames though! **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry about the whole thing with keeping in Kurogane's fake arm when I think he lost it in the final battle…anyway, I at least mention it having been damaged in this chapter. **

"I claim the top!"

Kurogane rolled his eyes at the childish exclamation and shrugged.

"Whatever."

The wizard laughed and scrambled up the ladder to the top of the strange two-leveled bed. Sitting on the bottom bunk, Kurogane rubbed at his shoulder where the artificial arm was connected, wincing. He could feel stickiness oozing out through the cloth of his cloak, and sighed, knowing that if there was bleeding, Fai would know and probably start pestering him again about hiding his pain. He wasn't like the wizard had been, hiding all his problems so everyone else could be happy, hiding _from _his problems; it was just that he didn't see the point of complaining about the pain when there was nothing to be done. And now that they were back in the Piffle World, it would be fixed soon enough, so again, there was little point in complaining.

Fai hung himself over the edge of the top bunk, upside-down, his hair falling to hang downwards as well. _Great, here we go_, thought Kurogane irritably.

"You're bleeding again."

The mage sort of back-flipped off the bed and landed on his feet on the floor. Bending over Kurogane, he unfastened the taller man's cloak and laid it tidily across the foot of the bunk, then stepped back with his hands on his hips and contemplated Kurogane's shirt.

"That's trickier than your old armor. Doesn't it hurt pulling it on and off over your shoulder?" Not waiting for an answer, he waved his hands impatiently. "Come on Kuro-pipi, take it off and let me see the damage."

Muttering grouchily under his breath, Kurogane nonetheless obeyed. He fought not to let the pain show when the sleeve brushed his shoulder. In Clow Country, during the final battle with Fei Wong, the false arm had been so badly damaged Kurogane had suspected it would never be useful again. In a way, the idea of being able to discard it was almost a relief. But then, he'd been startled to find that the thing _healed_, as though it were a real flesh-and-blood arm, except it healed better and faster than a real arm would. It had been downright creepy watching it put itself back together. Now that he could get it refitted, he would finally be able to enjoy having such an amazing piece of technology at his disposal.

Fai's long, cool fingers flitted over his shoulder.

"Hmm. How does this come off? It's like a parasite or something; it's attached itself to you."

Kurogane pushed a tiny switch on the inside of the arm and it retracted and came loose. He set it aside.

"Hyuu, that's neat!"

"Stop making that noise!"

All he got was a laugh. Fai moved to examine his shoulder. The actual wound from cutting off his arm had healed well, but all around the outside of the area was an angry red chafing, bleeding in places, especially at the top of his shoulder. Fai made a sympathetic humming noise. His eyes were golden, and he licked the blood from his fingers with a relish than contradicted his pity.

Fai went into the bathroom adjoining their room and came back with a damp cloth. Kurogane had expected him to use it to wipe the blood away, so he started when instead, the blonde leaned over and licked at the blood. Kurogane tensed, puzzled and irritated by the lack of warning and the intimacy of the touch. He steeled himself as always against the onslaught of desire, made stronger this time by the closeness. Thankfully it wasn't a true feeding, there wasn't much blood to be had and Fai moved away after only a moment or two.

The vampire licked blood off his lips and grinned wickedly.

"It'd be a pity to waste anything."

Kurogane glared at him. Now Fai moved the cool, damp cloth over his shoulder, lightly, wiping away leftover smears of blood.

"Don't put the arm back on tonight. We're going to get it fixed tomorrow, and you won't need it tonight anyway, so you may as well be comfortable."

It was annoying when the wizard was right. Huffing angrily simply because he wasn't going to take any advice the blonde dealt out without at least a little resistance, Kurogane stood and set his cloak and the arm on the desk across the room.

Upon arriving in the Piffle World that morning, they'd found this world's Tomoyo easily enough. She'd cried over the loss of the Sakura she'd known, but she seemed happy that the living Sakura was in a safe place. She gave them rooms in her house…more of a mansion really…Kurogane was a bit irked by having to share a room with Fai when there were obviously other rooms available. He wondered if Tomoyo was matchmaking. At least she'd given them a room with bunk-beds instead of making them share a bed. Kurogane mentally shuddered at the thought. He had a feeling Fai would be cuddly. Uck.

Turning from the desk to go back to the bed and sleep, he nearly ran into Fai, who had seemingly materialized out of thin air just behind him, grinning madly.

"Idiot! What are you doing? Don't surprise me like that!"

The blonde's voice took on a whiny, childish tone that grated on Kurogane's nerves.

"Kuro-puu, I'm hun-gr-y."

Kurogane's irritation was lightened by the realization that this was the first time Fai had really been the one to broach the subject, aside from the one time in the kitchen of the witch's shop, but that had only been because he was near starving and the blood had been flowing anyway. This time, Fai was essentially requesting to feed. It was a breakthrough. It meant Fai had apparently come to terms with the fact that they were stuck together, predator and prey, and that there was little point in hiding his needs. Kurogane reached for his sword to cut himself, but Fai halted him with a hand on his arm.

The vampire extended one long claw from his pointer finger and touched it to Kurogane's wrist. The scars from previous feedings were barely visible; Fai's saliva healed them quickly and with very little scarring.

"This won't make such a large wound as the sword. Besides, I don't like watching you cut yourself." Golden eyes glinted as Fai drew a clean cut with his claw and waited for the blood to well up. "You know what the worst part of this was, while I was still fighting it, hating it?"

When Fai just licked at the blood and didn't continue, Kurogane grudgingly took the bait.

"What?"

Fai made a cheerful little humming noise, probably pleased with himself for making Kurogane ask.

"Mmm. It was that you taste _good_, and I hated how much I enjoy this." Kurogane blinked, surprised. Fai's previous hatred of the entire situation had been so strong that he hadn't even considered the possibility that the wizard might actually partly enjoy it. Besides, he'd tasted his own blood before, it he happened to bite his tongue or lip, and there was hardly anything special about it. Probably Fai's body had changed not only to need blood, but also to savor it. "It's better than chocolate, better than wine. I could keep taking it until there was nothing left, and love every drop. And I hated it, I hated that I was taking pleasure from hurting someone. I was afraid one day I might lose myself, take too much…that I might kill you."

Kurogane started slightly when Fai shifted away from the original cut and suddenly broke through the skin in a new place with his fangs. This was another first; the first time Fai had used his natural weapons, his claws and fangs, to draw blood. Distracting himself from the strange pleasure-pain, Kurogane spoke.

"And now? You've accepted this?"

"Mm-hmm. It occurred to me that my instincts would probably stop me a long way short of killing you. After all, if you die, I die. I don't think I could kill you. Even if I lost my head and kept drinking more than I should, I think something in me would stop simply for the cause of self-preservation. Besides, if we're stuck this way forever, I'd be an idiot to spend my whole life hating it."

"You _are_ an idiot. But at least you're not being idiotic about this anymore."

Fai pulled away, smiling. Lifting Kurogane's hand, he studied the wrist and laughed mischievously. Kurogane followed his gaze and realized that the long, curved slice from Fai's claw and the two punctures from his fangs had been placed in such a way that they made a smiley face. He lifted his eyes back up to the laughing mage and snarled, sending Fai running in a fit of giggles and fake shrieks. He chased the wizard down the corridor and found him hiding beneath a very puzzled Syaoran's bed, with Mokona bouncing up and down and giggling maniacally. Deciding that it wasn't worth it to drag Fai out from under the bed, Kurogane snorted and stomped back down the hall.

Just for the sake of being ornery, he climbed up onto the top bunk and rolled into the blankets.

_Claim the top bunk, will he? Humph, serves him right if I take it._

Darn that mage and his crazy antics.

And darn his own lips for smiling when he was supposed to be angry.


	3. Chapter 3

Kurogane woke with a start, automatically gripping the hilt of his sword, which lay beneath his pillow. He forced his breathing to remain steady and calm as though he were still sleeping as he reached out with his senses, trying to detect who or what had awakened him. Then he heard it; a tiny whimper from above him. Fai.

It was their third night in the Piffle world. Fai had somehow managed to steal back the top bunk, but Kurogane didn't mind much; he preferred sleeping on ground level, next to the door. It meant if someone came sneaking in they would immediately be confronted by him.

Releasing the sword, he flexed the fingers of his repaired and adjusted artificial arm and watched it move, still impressed by it. The false skin now covering it had been matched to the shade of his skin so that it was amazingly hard to see the difference between it and the real one. It now fit perfectly and painlessly, and the movement was wonderfully smooth.

Kurogane stood and peeked up onto the top bunk. Fai was stirring restlessly, whimpering quietly. For half a moment Kurogane wondered if perhaps he was having an erotic dream, and he was prepared to go back to bed and try not to think about what kind of retarded thoughts might pass for erotic in Fai's twisted mind, but then he caught the expression on Fai's face, the tone of the sounds he made. There was no pleasure on that face, in those whimpers. Fai looked and sounded anguished.

Kurogane knew from personal experience that even once a person found the strength and will to leave the past behind, even once bad memories had faded from a constant intense pain into an occasional vague ache, the nightmares would still come. Even now, after so long, he occasionally suffered from dreams; images of the sword from another dimension ripping through his mother's soft body; images of his father's mangled arm hanging limply from the mouth of a monster; images of his own self, crazed and bloodstained, clutching his mother's body and killing anything which approached him. How much worse then, for Fai, who had not long ago been forced to relive his past in Celes, who had only recently been able to move past his horrible memories? His nightmares must still be intense and frequent. Kurogane found it strange that he had never before noticed. Surely Fai must have suffered so for most of their journey. Suddenly he recalled the odd habit Fai used to have of sleeping on his stomach, face buried absurdly in his pillow. To hide the whimpers, the cries?

Reaching up, Kurogane poked Fai's shoulder, but got no reaction.

"Mage. Hey, mage! Wake up, idiot!"

Unfortunately he couldn't speak very loudly, not wanting to wake anyone else up, so he wasn't very surprised when he still did not succeed in waking the wizard. He considered just going back to sleep and letting Fai wake up in his own time, but the way Fai was shaking and sweating and making tragic little noises was too pitiful to ignore. Kurogane didn't want to leave him to suffer for who knew how much longer. Suddenly finding an idea, he reached for his sword again and sliced his finger the tiniest bit.

He moved his bleeding finger up near Fai's face and waited. Sure enough, two golden, slitted eyes blinked open. Fai was shaking hard. He looked over the edge of the bed and seemed to sort of slump in relief when he saw who stood there.

"Kurogane."

Unlike the time between Tokyo and Nihon when Fai's dropping of the nicknames had indicated a distance between them, this time it simply seemed to indicate seriousness and even a kind of happiness at Kurogane's presence. Kurogane touched his bleeding finger to Fai's lips, noting that the wizard had chewed them up badly in his distress, his fangs leaving marks on his lips.

"Clean that up. Had to wake you up with the scent of blood."

Fai seemed to take comfort in lapping at the blood on Kurogane's finger, or perhaps simply in having a friend close. Whatever the case, by the time the blood stopped flowing he had stopped shaking. Kurogane brushed sweaty, shaggy blonde bangs from Fai's face and gave him his nicest smile- which he suspected looked something like a wolf about to eat a rabbit, but at least he was trying- and then he lightly bumped the wizard on the head with his fist.

"Idiot, you shouldn't be having nightmares when I'm right under you. Nothing's gonna get you unless it can get through me first, and nothing can do that."

Fai smiled, a little weakly, but sincerely. His voice was a sad whisper.

"It wasn't that kind of dream. I dreamt again that...that I chose to let Fai die..."

"But you know now that that's not true. Fai chose to let you be free...Yuui."

The blonde head jolted up and mismatched golden and blue eyes met red ones.

"I...Thank you."

Kurogane tilted his head.

"For what? I'm just sayin' what's true."

"You...you gave me my name back."

"You don't need to carry his name anymore if you don't want to. He must be at peace now, now that you've come to appreciate your life. Take your own name back, or keep his. Either way, let it be what you want, not what you think you should do. He would want that for you."

There were tears in those strange eyes. The wizard reached down and wrapped his arms awkwardly around Kurogane's shoulders.

"Kuro-chan is wonderful, even if he wishes he was a meany." Kurogane rolled his eyes at the childish words, then listened carefully when the seriousness returned, albeit briefly. "I think I will still be Fai. I always liked that name. Besides, what's in a name? A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet! I'm adorable no matter what my name is!"

Kurogane snorted, and stepped away, but he had the feeling there was a slight amused smirk on his face.

He climbed back into his own bunk and lay still, listening, hoping Fai would now be able to sleep peacefully. Before he knew it he'd dozed off himself.

Kurogane brushed irritably, still asleep for the most part, at whatever was tickling his nose. It vanished, and he rolled over and drew the covers up. He was fuzzily aware that it was near the time he ought to get up anyway, but he was tired and wanted to sleep as long as possible. The tickling thing was back. He slapped at whatever it was again but there was nothing there. Grudgingly, he opened one eye and peered down his nose, but there was nothing there so he grunted in annoyance and closed his eye again, trying to reclaim his last few minutes of sleep. A moment later, there it was again, a distinct tickling sensation at the tip of his nose. This time the motion of his slapping at the air was accompanied by a quiet but revealing giggle from behind him.

Growling, he spun around and swung at his tormenter, but the mage dodged skilfully, laughing, waving around the feather he'd been tickling Kurogane's nose with. Deciding that a chase or display of anger- which was obviously what the mage was aiming for- would only encourage further annoyances, he instead rolled out of bed and stretched, ignoring Fai. Surprised that the wizard hadn't done anything else to annoy him, he glanced at his companion and found Fai quiet, turning the feather in his fingers, studying it.

"What are you doing, mage?"

Fai smiled slightly.

"It's funny...after everything we've been through, everything that's happened...it's strange to look at a feather and have it just be a feather, just something Tomoyo-chan's pet bird left behind. Nothing special about it."

"Hn."

Mokona suddenly bounded into the room and leapt at Kurogane's head.

"Kuro-puu! Kuro-puu! It's morning!"

"I know that, rat!"

He swatted the creature away and rolled his eyes when it leapt into Fai's arms whining about "Kuro-daddy" being mean, and Fai just encouraged the thing by cuddling it.

"Fai-mommy is nice to me at least!"

Kurogane snorted and absorbed Ginryu into his real arm, which Fai had put that spell on again. It was especially convenient in worlds like this where carrying a sword belted at his side would look strange, but he didn't want to be without a weapon. Mokona bounced back out of the room, declaring it was going to wake Syaoran up. Kurogane pulled a change of clothes that Tomoyo had provided out of the drawers in one corner and glared at Fai.

"I'm going to have a shower. Stay out of trouble."

Those eyes were wide and might have fooled someone who didn't know Fai into thinking him innocent. Kurogane had no such delusions. There was mischief brewing there.

"Aww, now Kuro-puppy, what kind of trouble could I possibly get into?"

"It would take hours to list the kinds of trouble you could get into, wizard."

Fai laughed and headed for the door. Kurogane noted that his hair was damp and his clothes were different than yesterday's, so he must have been up for a while and already showered.

"I'll be good, Kurgy."

Kurogane inwardly cringed, knowing how unlikely that was, and wondering what sort of disaster he would find when he got out of the shower.

Grumbling, he got in the shower stall and let the water relax him. There were shelves on one side with various soaps and shampoos. Somehow Kurogane wasn't surprised to find that the one left open from earlier was some girly flowery scented stuff. Leave it to Fai to wash his hair with rose scented shampoo. Sighing, he looked through the bottles until he found the least girly one, something citrus-y, which still didn't feel quite manly but was better than the other options. He lathered his hair up and rinsed, then got out and dried off. He got dressed and finally went to the mirror to comb his hair, muttering grouchily about stupid mages and rose scented shampoo and feathers. When he finally looked into the mirror, he froze as still as death, staring at his reflection.

His hair, every last strand of it, had gone a shockingly bright shade of pink.

"_**FAI!!!!**_"


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: This is the last chapter of Anew (I think). A sequel-ish thingy with more of a plot will be up too, I already have fourteen chapters completed and just need to think of a title... :s I may bounce several completely unrelated stories off of Anew, we'll see. The one I'm about to post may make some people unhappy with me, since I did something wacky to Fai, lol...(will be explained somewhat in that story's AN and in the story itself, of course). Let's just say it's a KuroFai romance, but NOT boyXboy...lol. People will probably hate me for it. :s ANYWAYS...please enjoy the last chapter of Anew, whether you read the new story or not, lol! **

Syaoran sleepily sat down at the table.

"Good morning Fai-san, Kurogane-san."

"Good morning Syaoran-kun."

"Humph."

Syaoran glanced up through still-blurry eyes at his companions. His eyes widened slightly.

"Fai-san! Are you alright? What happened?"

Kurogane glared at the mage, who was sporting pink hair and a black eye. Served him right. Kurogane tugged his ridiculous headgear down further.

"I'm fine Syaoran." The mage was grinning from ear to ear, and it wasn't fake; he was really enjoying this. Idiot. "I just had a bit of a collision with Kuro-puppy's fist."

Oddly enough, it was true. Kurogane hadn't actually meant to hurt him, he'd only dragged him into the bathroom, shoved his head in the sink, and drenched his hair in that cursed shampoo. Then when Fai popped back up, laughing, hair pink, Kurogane had started yelling and shaking his fist at him, and Fai, laughing so hard he was crying, had slipped on a wet patch on the floor and run smack into Kurogane's fist.

"Kurogane-san, you and Fai-san shouldn't fight!"

Mokona broke in now.

"But why is Fai-mommy's hair pink? And Kuro-daddy, what are you wearing on your head? It looks like a garbage can!"

Fai started laughing again. Kurogane growled.

"It's a _hat_!"

Fai reached over and knocked the thing off before Kurogane could react. Syaoran and Mokona gaped. Fai with pink hair was strange but not really shocking; Fai was always a bit...odd, there was no reason he wouldn't suddenly decide to dye his hair pink. But Kurogane with pink hair? That was just plain scary. Mokona squealed happily.

"Tee-hee! Kuro-puppy-daddy has pink hair!"

Fai was grinning like the moron he was.

"All the shampoo in our bathroom was flower scented except for one bottle, so I knew Kuro-sama would pick that one to use, and I put a spell on it! But then he put it in my hair too...it should wear off sometime today, which is a good thing since I don't think Kuro-puu's ego could survive much longer than a few hours like this."

"You b-stard, I'll kill you for this!"

"Of _course_ you will, Kuro-rin." The sarcastic tone was infuriating, and so was the laughter in those mismatched eyes. "That's death threat number five-thousand-five-hundred-and-three, but I'm sure Kuro-tan will get around to killing me eventually."

"Shut up!"

"Why? I was encouraging you, Kuro-puu!"

"Um, could you pass the butter please, Kurogane-san?"

Kurogane continued glaring at the grinning wizard as he passed Syaoran the butter, noticing that the boy's toast was already well-buttered; the teen had obviously just been trying to distract Kurogane and keep a fight from breaking out. It caused a slight pang of sadness; the old Syaoran, the clone, might have been somewhat shocked by the fights and chases, but he was used to it. This one was still painfully uncomfortable with the violence between his companions, even though no one was ever actually hurt. It was slightly strange, considering he had seen the entire journey through the eye of the clone; but apparently in person the rough-housing worried him. Fai kept assuring the boy that it was all in play, and that Kurogane was really just a big softy who wouldn't hurt a fly. Kurogane strongly objected to that, but it was true that he wouldn't hurt Fai. Still, he wasn't about to admit that, so Syaoran would just have to suffer worrying that one of these days somebody would get hurt.

Fai leaned his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands, smiling softly at Syaoran. That smile really did make him look the part of his self-proclaimed motherly role. Kurogane rolled his eyes and eyed a stack of pancakes suspiciously. There was chocolate in them. He glared at them and took some toast, noticing that Fai's eyes were laughing at him over the absurd motherly smile.

"So, what do you think Sakura-chan is doing right now, Syaoran?"

"If the time is the same there as it is here, she's probably still asleep. Pretty soon her brother will probably go into her room and pour cold water on her or put a bug on her nose to wake her up. Then Yukito-san will dry her off or get rid of the bug, and he'll scold Touya-sama. Then Sakura-hime will go out onto her balcony..." The boy blushed suddenly and continued in a low murmur. "...then, she said that every morning she will look out over the desert and think of me."

Fai clapped his hands.

"Hyuu! That's so sweet and romantic!"

Kurogane kicked Fai under the table.

"Don't make that sound!"

"Aww, Daddy is playing footsie with me!"

Kurogane opened his mouth to splutter angrily, and Fai giggled and shoved a bite of chocolate-chip pancake in. Kurogane gave Fai a glare so dark that it had probably killed lesser men as he chewed. Fai snickered, but then turned back to Syaoran, ignoring the fuming ninja.

"Do you miss her very much, Syaoran-kun?"

The boy nodded, sadness in his eyes.

"Well, at least you know she's there waiting for you, safe. You'll go home lots of times and see her."

"Yeah. Fai-san, where will you go, if we ever stop journeying?"

"You never can really stop journeying, can you, Syaoran? Your payment for getting out of the void was that you must keep moving. But you can probably stop for quite a long time, maybe even year at a time. Once you're a bit older and can travel well enough on your own, I suppose we might stop going with you all the time. But I really don't know where I'd go..."

Kurogane rolled his eyes again.

"You'll come with me of course, idiot. There's not really any option. You live off me."

Fai smiled, but there was something false in that smile, like the old, constant fake smiles. Mokona suddenly jumped on Kurogane's head and began playing with his neon hair, distracting the ninja, who began swatting and cursing at the rabbit-like creature. Still, despite the distraction, he remembered that smile.

Some half an hour after breakfast, Mokona and Syaoran had gone exploring with this world's version of that kid from Outo. Fai was in the kitchen charming Tomoyo's head chef, a fifty-something woman who had at first been decidedly against a stranger in her kitchen, but now looked prepared to adopt Fai as her son and hire him as a chef, all in one go.

Tomoyo had asked Kurogane to fix a cabinet in the kitchen, so he was hammering, his hair completely covered by a hat Syaoran had procured for him that was much less absurd than the one he'd had before, as he watched Fai, torn between amusement and irritation.

The presently pink-haired wizard was wearing a white apron, two or three sizes too big for him, and a ridiculous tall, white chef hat. He was coated in a thin layer of flour and cocoa powder and there was a smudge of dough smeared across his nose. Kurogane knew that Fai was actually very proficient in the kitchen; there'd never been a speck of mess involved in his cooking in Outo, and everything always turned out perfectly; not that Kurogane would admit it. Here, he was acting like a complete incompetent. It was probably something like pretending to be drunk; a game he played because people thought it was cute. It had certainly worked on the cook.

Kurogane noticed the no matter how much mess the magician made, he hadn't actually made any mistakes, and everything he made turned out seemingly flawless. Maybe he was using magic? Cheater.

The chef left for a moment to get something from the storeroom, and Kurogane got up and approached the wizard, who suddenly seemed serious.

"Earlier, when I said you'd come back to Nihon with me...why does that upset you?"

Fai smiled wryly.

"I suppose I should have known that wouldn't slip by you."

"Yeah, you should have. Now spit it out."

The mage leaned back against the counter and lifted a spoonful of white icing.

"Want some? And don't even try to deny liking it. You may not like chocolate, but I've seen you lick this stuff off your fingers when you think I'm not looking."

Huffing, he took the spoon, somehow managing to lick it while still glaring, making Fai laugh quietly.

"Tell me."

Fai sighed.

"I don't like it that we don't have a choice. I don't care where we go...in fact, I like Nihon; I like the thought of settling there. But I don't like that you're put in a situation of having to take me with you whether you like it or not. It makes me ...it makes me angry."

Kurogane blinked.

"Angry? Why?"

"Because I didn't ask for it, I can't change it, and I know it's going to ruin everything."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Do you really think that, five, ten, fifteen years from now, you'll still be able to be my friend?"

"Don't see why not."

"Uh-huh. Just picture it....you on a military campaign, soldiers naturally curious as to why their brave and fearless leader is hauling around the skinny foreigner. They'll assume we're lovers, most likely. One day, you'll probably be married. Somehow I doubt your wife will approve. What excuse can you give? "He's not my lover; he's just the bloodsucking monster I have to feed regularly since I don't want his death to be my responsibility!" How long can you last before the things they think of us drive you to hate me? Then I'll be...alone again..."

Those sky eyes were wet. Kurogane scoffed slightly and pushed the blonde's bangs away when he tilted his head so they hid his eyes.

"Don't be any more of an idiot than you already are, Fai. Many of the soldiers take male lovers, so though they'll no doubt assume, they won't speak of it openly. I don't care what's in their heads as long as it's not coming out their mouths. As for the other...I have no intention of marrying anytime soon, but if it ever should happen, we'll simply have to explain it to her. I wouldn't marry a woman if I could not trust her with such a secret."

"B-but...people will hate me there. In countries like yours, still so far behind worlds like Piffle and Yuuko's Nihon, anything new and different is regarded with suspicion. They'll think I'm something evil because I look and act so different from all of them. And they'll hate you because you're associated with me. And I'm..."

"And you're bad luck? Don't go off on that again, idiot. Just because your country was full of superstitious halfwits doesn't mean mine is. In my world, there are many different nations, far from Nihon. People with your coloring are rare, but we do see them occasionally. They come from across the sea, and that is where people will assume you come from. Tomoyo and the empress favour you, and their subjects love them enough to follow their lead. Most likely you'll be popular because you're a novelty, rather than shunned. Even your magic will be appreciated and regarded as an asset. The vampirism will need to be kept mostly secret...but since you only feed from me, most people would hardly even care about that other than being curious. So stop crying and think clearly."

He wasn't sure how his arms ended up full of Fai, but he rolled his eyes and returned the hug awkwardly. After all, chances were Fai would let go more quickly if he got what he wanted. Unfortunately, because maybe Fai _was _bad luck in some miserably hilarious and Fai's-sense-of-humour-ous way, the cook just had to choose that moment to return. Apparently the concept of a hug between friends was, in her mind, off-limits for men. Her face went pale and her eyes went wide and she looked liable to scream. Kurogane pushed Fai off quickly before realizing that such an action only made them look guilty. Then he realized that the cook wasn't looking at them at all, but at an enormous spider hanging from a web above Kurogane's head.

Fai burst out into laughter. The spider scurried back up its web and ran for its life across the ceiling as if it understood that the look in Kurogane's eyes very clearly meant _death_.


End file.
